1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing aircraft and, in particular, to bonding parts to each other for an aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for measuring strength of bond lines in parts bonded to each other.
2. Background
Aircraft are being designed and manufactured with greater and greater percentages of composite materials. Some aircraft may have more than fifty percent of their primary structure made from composite materials. Composite materials are used in aircraft to decrease the weight of the aircraft. This decreased weight improves performance features, such as payload capacities and fuel efficiencies. Further, composite materials provide longer service life for various components in an aircraft.
Composite materials are tough, light-weight materials, created by combining two or more dissimilar components. These materials may be used in composite parts. For example, a composite part may include fibers and resins. The fibers may be in the form of a substrate or matrix. For example, the fibers may take the form of a woven cloth. The resin may form a reinforcement for the substrate. The fibers and resins are combined and cured to form a composite material.
Further, by using composite materials, portions of an aircraft may be created in larger pieces or sections. For example, a fuselage in an aircraft may be created in cylindrical sections that may be put together to form the fuselage of the aircraft. Other examples include, for example, without limitation, wing sections joined to form a wing or stabilizer sections joined to form a stabilizer.
In using composite materials, composite parts, using these types of materials, may be bonded to each other and other structures. Bonded composite structures using parts have been limited in use with respect to aircraft and other aerospace structures. When composite parts are bonded to each other, the bonds may vary in strength and stiffness. This variance in strength and stiffness may occur even if discrete bond line inconsistencies are absent. These inconsistencies may include, for example, without limitation, disbonds, voids, cracking, porosity, and other types of inconsistencies.
Currently used non-destructive inspection methods rely on identifying these types of inconsistencies to determine whether the structure has a desired level of performance.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.